Mustard pork

I am not a huge fan of fall, it means Summer has ended. The days get shorter and colder, then the snow comes. Okay I just do not like cold and to me anything under 70 is way to cold, some days 70 is to cold.   One of my friends brought me homemade mustard and

 I had to make a delicious fall meal. 

While oil is heating season the pork really well then brown. 

Now chop up carrots, and onions ( if you want to add parsnip) I tossed in mustard and salt, pepper as well as paprika with oregano, parsley, basil, and thyme.

Set meat aside so you can put the veggies on the bottom. This will rise the meat over the juices and let it get a slight crispness to it and the veggies will roast in the liquid adding flavor.

Coat the meat with mustard and paprika then bake at 450 until cooked through.

Roast potatoes with salt and pepper. 

Slice meat and serve. 

Pepper Steak

                                                 
There is nothing worse than working hard all day and all the sudden remembering you have 3 hungry kids and a husband to feed. I am not a huge fan of the crock pot but from time to time the thing has saved my butt a few times. After the insanely long weekend I caught a fun head cold which in turn has made me moody and not pleasant, I also do not want to cook. So savory pepper steak it is.

 ½ inch thick strips of beef 

Salt and Pepper

2 cups of pepper and onions 

1 can diced Tomato

1 cup chicken broth

1 tsp of Worcestershire sauce

1/4 cup soy sauce 

1 tsp Tex- Mex seasoned salt 

                                             Toss in a crock pot and serve with rice. 
                                               I also made green beans. 

As for the budget of this meal the total for 6 people ( I had enough for 2 people) and a lunch set up as well. The meat was $4 and a can of tomato, half a bag of pepper and onion blend and rice brings the total at the most $10. This makes the meal about $1.50 per meal. 

Chicken Solvaski

We moved to Maryland 4 years ago for work which was a horrible idea but some good came out of it. We found a prefect little Greek restaurant and it became out go to for eating out all the time. We would order 4 meals because if you bought 3 the 4th was free. Justin would order a gyro and the kids and I would order Solvaski with a falafel meal. Each meal came with the most amazing salad and rice. Out of everything in Maryland I really really miss our little restaurant. They even delivered now I have nothing like that local to me and my delivery man ( which is Justin) complains and his job is moving further from the only greek place we found. So now it is time to take action and learn how to make our own Greek food. I made chicken solvaski for the third time.

So for ingredients:  

• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 olive oil
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon smoked paprika or paprika
• 1 tablespoon fresh dill
• 1 tablespoon fresh oregano
• 3 cloves garlic, minced or grated
• 1/2 teaspoon salt + 1 teaspoon pepper

Now mix everything together to create a marinade. Leave the chicken in the marinade for a few hours. 

 I cooked the chicken in the marinade at 350 for about an hour and a half. 

Then I made white rice using chicken stock and added butter and lemon with parsley with sautéed green beans.

I have been working with limited funds so this meal cost me maybe $2.00 per person. We have been buying chicken thighs for $4 and it has about 10- 12 thighs in it. Each person gets one and the bag of green beans was $.99 rice is also nice to keep in the pantry. Save the marinade/ chicken stock for the next meal. (Please keep a close eye on the bottom of the food entries for more budget saving tips and tricks.) 

 

Spanish Lasagna

I have such a hard time letting go in the kitchen. It is my special place a way from the kids and now they want in. It is great that they want to learn because then they know how to cook and it teaches culinary skills and math.  I love food from all parts of the world. My comfort food will always be my Spanish meals. 

This is my crazy lasagna that I made because my perfectly envisioned tortillas were made by my children. They made them a little to thick and not very round.   So I adjusted my smothered burritos to lasagna. Everyone loves that right?

 The ingredients:

Ropa Veja

Red chili sauce

flour tortillas

cheese 

I layered the ingredient. I started with the sauce which I learned after the first lasagna I made was very important. I don't think I am allowed to make traditional lasagna after that first time, somehow the pasta baled and became hard, it was pretty bad. After the lasagna is layered you put it in the oven and cook it until heated through.

Then after it is done cooking top it with guacamole, salsa, sour cream and anything else you want. I think this will be the only lasagna I will ever be allowed to make again. 

Broccoli Cheese Meatloaf

                                      

Personally I can't stand meatloaf, but my daughter and husband are pure carnivore. My father in law tends to make this meatloaf that has meat and broccoli inside it and cheese melted on top. I sorta tried to keep with that theme but my own version. 

 This recipe is a broccoli cheese filled meat loaf wrapped in bacon and BBQ sauce and cheese over the top. This is a meal my daughter loves and she loves it even more when I make shaped like a cupcake.

 For the meat loaf we need: Bacon
                                             3-5 pound ground beef (depending on the amount of people)
                                             Tarragon, oregano, basil, thyme, paprika, marjoram, savory

                                             Salt and Pepper

                                             Panko and eggs
                                             Broccoli
                                             Provolone

Add all of the seasoning to the meat with eggs and panko. Mix well 

Lay plastic out and layer the bacon.

This will be on the outside and create a crust. 

Now press ground beef out on top of the bacon. 

Keep in a nice even layer. No thinner than 1/2 inch. 

Add cheese and broccoli. 

Roll and stick inside a loaf pan. 

Cook at 375 until the beef is fully cooked and temps at 160. I pour out the extra grease that collects. Then place BBQ sauce and  cheese until a nice and bubbly-ness appear.

Now for the lovely mash potatoes.

For 7 people I cooked 8 potatoes. First we peeled it and then boiled it until soft. 

After the potatoes are cooked I whip them with butter and a small amount of milk and seasoning. 

I love garlic with cheddar. 

Cook some green beans or salad as a side and call it a night. 

Ropa Veja

As promised I am writing my family recipe that is my go to for large gatherings. My mom came from Panama but it was not until I got married that I learned about our family recipes. My grandmother was never good at sharing her recipes.  I buy a pork should for no more than $15 and can feed about 10 people. Once you add rice and beans plus topping it goes even further. If you make this you should really start it a day or even two before you want to serve it. The longer it sits the better it taste.

You will need: 

2 Tablespoons olive oil

Salt & Pepper

2 broken Bay leaves 

crushed red pepper flakes, to taste

1 jalapeño, Halved

2 large onions 

2 Carrots 

parsley

4 garlic cloves

pork shoulder ( my Grandmother used Brisket) 

Diced Tomatoes (1 1/2 cup)  and tomato paste

2 tablespoon chicken base

1/2 dry white wine (we do not use this but it adds)

1 tablespoon  white wine vinegar

1 roasted red, yellow, and orange

I start by tossing everything but the meat into the crock pot. I mix it and taste and adjust the taste until I get what we are looking for. Then add the meat and leave it. You do not need to cut the meat because by the end of the day it will just fall apart. 

Festa bake potato

I love using left overs because it saves money. But this is honestly amazing and I would be willing to cook it just to cook it. The topping would be amazing in Nachos or soup. Since the weather has not really warmed up yet, I have been all about soups and comfort food. Hence the baked potato. Also baked potatoes have a million different ways you can prepare it. Now there is a million and one.
Then again you may want to eat this by the spoonful and not care about the potato.

So for the potato, this will take the longest. I wash my potatoes and toss it with a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper. I cook it at 375 until I remember I am cooking potatoes it can be anywhere from 30 mins to an hour. Once I completely forgot about the potatoes and made charcoal and only remembered it because of the smoke pouring out of the oven.

About 30 minutes in I start preparing my mixture. I had left over roasted chicken and diced it all up with Soyrizo ( I buy this from Trader Joe's and it is amazing). If you want it to be real meat use chorizo. I blanched some leeks a few weeks ago so I pulled out a handful and tossed that in with onions and garlic. Season with salt and pepper to taste. When everything was warmed up I added about half a brick of cream cheese. If you want to add some cheddar or pepper jack it was just add to the amazingness of this mix.

Now we remember about the potato and start layering it. I start with the cheese because every potato needs cheese no matter what kind of filling is in it.

Then we toss on the mixture. 

Add some sour cream and a touch of seasoned salt with pepper. Now to sever some mouth watering food. 

Peanut Butter

Math lesson of the day was measuring and we got yummy peanut butter out of it. All you need is a food processor and dry roasted peanuts. 

We use the Ninja Master Prep (QB900B) and I spent maybe $3 on peanuts at Trader Joe's. 

We only did 1 cup but if you want a larger amount on hand feel free to use more. 

Yasser measured the nuts out and poured it in. Then she put every thing together and went for it. 

Just keep going

Just keep going

going 

going 

Now is when you start to see a change but its not peanut butter yet

It's closer

At this point I thought it was done but Justin feels it could have used more its not super smooth.

But it is gorgeous and the best part is it is process free and low amount of salt. 

I recommend having a food processor if you want to live an all natural life and you can do so much with it. Soon we will be making pesto so it will be getting pulled out a lot more. Another food processor to look at is Black & Decker FP1600B 8-Cup Food Processor, Black. The space capacity is bigger than what I have for my ninja.